A common phenomenon in networks such as Internet networks is that a large portion of bandwidth is consumed by a small group of network subscribers. For instance, it is not unusual for 25% to 40% of network bandwidth to be used by only a few percent of the subscribers. Often, a disproportionately large percentage of the network capacity is consumed by relatively few of the subscribers to a network. For instance, it is not uncommon that as little as 2% of the network's population may consume 40% of the total network bandwidth or more.
Such uneven usage can be detrimental, bringing the network into congestion and degrading the service for the entire network population, often much sooner than projected. This phenomenon also puts the business model for the service at risk. ISPs have tried various types of service level agreements (SLAs) in order to limit the amount of data that a subscriber accesses via the network. However, such SLAs have proved to be ineffective, irritating to the subscriber, or both. There is therefore a need to affect the way subscribers consume network bandwidth in a manner that is fairer to the network population of subscribers, and in a manner that is more appealing to high bandwidth subscribers.